Chronic Illness
You may not think counseling would be effective to help with a physical obstacle like chronic illness. While counseling cannot change your illness, it can change how you live with it.
Imagine being able to speak openly about anything and everything with someone who knows how to listen, someone who will not judge or have an agenda or script you need to follow. Imagine being able to speak freely without fear of upsetting or hurting people you love and who you know mean well.
That’s what Darlene Cross can provide for you! She has published articles and speaks to health organizations on living with chronic illness. Her focus is always on Quality of Life and her message is: A patient has an illness but a person has a life. If you are ready to be seen and heard and treated as a person in a safe and private setting, Darlene is waiting for your call.
We understand the power of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the gold standard for helping people living with illness. Too often this important part of treatment gets lost when it is needed most. Support groups can be extremely helpful, but some people prefer a more private setting or private in addition to group support.
Some of the frequently discussed topics concerning chronic illness therapy:
- “How can counseling help me with my chronic illness?” Counseling cannot cure your illness, but it can change how you live with it. Mental health is probably the most missed aspect of a complete treatment plan and can be argued to be the most important.
- “I feel like I’m complaining if I talk about my illness.” People need to be able to talk about their illnesses in a safe and supportive settings. This can be a spouse, a friend, another friend with an illness, a support group, or anyone that helps you feel more understood and not so alone.
- “It makes me sad to have so many things I can’t do anymore.” Focusing on all the activities that are no longer an option can certainly be discouraging. Re-focusing, instead, on ways to perhaps modify favorite activities, replace them with something similar, trying something different, or any combination of these things can offer new enthusiasm when it’s needed most.
- “It’s depressing to have so many doctor appointments.” You can have too many doctor appointments too close together. If possible, try to spread these appointments out over time rather than fill up your schedule focused on what is wrong with you and from multiple professionals.
- “Is it hard to work with sick people so much?” I don’t work with sick people; I work with people looking for ways to live their lives with joy and quality in spite of battling an illness, too. People come to therapy to solve challenges in order to live their best lives.